Philly, New York bullpens similar in construct

Ken Davidoff has been blogging up a storm this week, and most of what he’s posted has been fairly interesting. One thing that caught my eye this morning was his look at the Phillies bullpen. It was meant as a message to Mets fans. As in, don’t think that throwing money at K-Rod or Fuentes or Joe Biemel or Juan Cruz will solve your bullpen problems. The Yanks tried to accomplish this by signing Kyle Farnsworth after the 2005 season, and we saw the results.

Instead, the Phillies have pieced together a bullpen by finding underrated pitchers who get the job done. When I look at their guys, I can’t help but think of how the Yankees went about building the pen this year. Let’s hope they stick to a similar strategy going forward.

Philly

Salary

Yankee

Salary

Brad Lidge

$6.35MM

Mariano Rivera

$15MM

J.C. Romery

$3.25MM

Damaso Marte

$2MM

Ryan Madson

$1.4MM

Brian Bruney

$750K

J.A. Happ

$390K

Jose Veras

$400K

Scot Eyre

$950K

Edwar Ramirez

$400K

Chad Durbin

$900K

David Robertson

$400K

Clay Condrey

$420K

Dan Giese

$412K

Paying for proven closers is one thing. Paying for middle relievers is quite another. This is likely why the Yankees haven’t yet committed one way or another on the Damaso Marte option. However, other than a hiccup in August, he’s been pretty solid over the past seven seasons. Perhaps he’s an exception to the rule. His history sure makes it look like he is.